A 16-year-old captive-bred male eastern kingsnake (Lampropeltis getulus getulus) was presented to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, University of Florida for evaluation of a bleeding mass which was first noted 2 months prior to presentation. The grayish mass was 2 ϫ 2 ϫ 5 cm, firm, ovoid, raised above the ventral scales, and located ventral to the liver. The snake was anesthetized with isoflurane in 100% oxygen, and the mass was found firmly attached to the fascia of the skin and the underlying skeletal musculature. Because of the invasiveness of the mass into the surrounding tissue, complete excision was not possible. Tissue samples were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin, embedded in paraffin, sectioned at 5 m, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE), and sections were examined by light microscopy.Microscopically, the mass was composed of sheets and interwoven bundles of contiguous neoplastic cells ranging from round to polygonal to fusiform. Neoplastic cells had scant to abundant, eosinophilic, foamy to fibrillar cytoplasm and variably distinct borders. Nuclei were moderately anisokaryotic, round to elongate, and euchromatic to vesicular and frequently contained single or multiple nucleoli of various sizes. Mitotic figures were rare, and vascular invasion by tumor cells was not detected. Neoplastic tissue invaded adjoining skeletal muscle and extended to the surgical margins (Fig. 1). No bacterial or fungal organisms were detected by Goodpasture, Fites, or Gomori methenamine silver stains. An anatomic diagnosis of undifferentiated sarcoma was made. Given the invasive nature and the incomplete excision, recurrence was considered likely.After 6 months, the mass had regrown at the original site and was approximately the same size as the previous mass. To stage this neoplastic disease, a diagnostic evaluation was performed. Whole body radiographs were within normal limits. An ultrasonogram revealed a heteroechoic mass extending from the skin into the coelomic cavity, displacing the lung. The liver was uniform in echogenicity and texture. Hematologic parameters revealed a leukocytosis (11,300 cells/l), lymphocytosis (5,760 cells/l), and anemia (packed cell volume [PCV] ϭ 17%). Plasma biochemical parameters were within normal limits. When the mass was reexcised, it was found to be firmly attached to the surrounding skeletal musculature and invading the coelomic cavity.Portions of the mass were processed as described above for histopathologic evaluation. Findings were similar to Received for publication December 27, 1996. those of the initial biopsy except for the following. Most neoplastic cells contained a few periodic acid-schiff (PAS)-positive and weakly metachromatic granules (Giemsa stain) (Fig. 2). Mitotic figures were present at 1-4/400ϫ field and were occasionally abnormal. Neoplastic cells invaded skeletal muscle and extended into the superficial dermis, which contained scattered heterophils. Neoplastic emboli were present within lymphatics. The high mitotic index and the lymphatic invas...
A 21-year-old male double-yellowheaded Amazon parrot was referred because of possible urolithiasis. The bird had strained to void since it was young, and recently, signs of depression and inappetence had appeared. Radiography revealed 2 mineralized opacities in the left caudal portion of the celomic cavity. A left lateral celiotomy revealed that the left ureter was dilated and contained a calculus, which was later determined to be composed of monosodium uric acid crystals and proteinaceous material. The second mineralized mass could not be located at that time, but was detected in the caudal aspect of the celomic cavity after surgery by use of radiography. Manual attempts to maneuver the uterolith from the ureter through the cloaca were unsuccessful. Five days after the initial surgery, the uterolith was removed by cloacotomy and ventral midline laparotomy. Excretory urography performed 10 and 31 days after surgery revealed that the left ureter was homogeneously opacified and gradually decreased to 3 to 6 mm in diameter. The bird remained healthy and seemed to strain less severely during voiding. Nonspecific signs associated with ureteroliths may result in delay in diagnosis. Surgical removal of ureteroliths may be an effective treatment for this uncommon condition, but it is complicated by certain anatomic features of birds and may result in ureteral stricture.
Nine of 74 American alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from a captive Florida herd of 3-4-m-long, 200-350-kg, adult males greater than 30 yr of age died within a 10-day period during 1995. Nonspecific clinical signs included anorexia, lethargy, muscle weakness, paraparesis, bilateral white ocular discharge, and various degrees of periocular, facial, cervical, and limb edema. Pneumonia, pericarditis, and arthritis were found on postmortem evaluation of the spontaneously dead and euthanatized alligators. Rapidly growing mycoplasmas were identified by culture, and mycoplasma nucleotide sequences were identified by polymerase chain reaction testing of fresh lung and synovial fluid from an affected alligator. Culture of banked frozen lung from necropsy specimens and fresh lung and fresh synovial fluid from newly affected alligators confirmed the presence of a new mycoplasma species in seven of eight individuals. Oxytetracycline was administered, but related deaths continued for 6 mo until only 14 of the initial alligators remained. An enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect antibody was developed, and the organism was transmitted experimentally to naive juvenile alligators, although the source of the organism, Mycoplasma sp. (ATCC 700619), has not been identified. The alligator isolate is a novel species in the mycoplasma family because its nucleotide sequence does not match those of over 75 characterized mycoplasma species. Such factors as population density, animal age, and mycoplasmal virulence likely contributed to the course of disease.
Reference range (mean +/-2 SEM) for MNCV was 34.1 to 75.3 m/s for the ulnar nerve and 116.7 to 147.9 m/s for the tibial nerve in barred owls and rheas. After repetitive stimulation, motor potential amplitudes may be +/-22.7% of the initial amplitude response.
X RAYS AND THE APPENDIX. disregard the pain and discomfort he can be confidently assured of recovery. The ability to give this advice Witlh coufidence, witli thle certain knowledge that we can exclude gastric or duodenal ulcer, is one of the strongest arguments for exploring every doubtful case of chronic abdominal pain. REFERENCE.
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